Banner blindness

Banner blindness is a phenomenon in web usability where visitors to a website consciously or unconsciously ignore banner-like information.

If a user wants to find something on the web page and ads disrupt or delay their search, they will try to avoid the source of interference.

[4] A 2014 eye-tracking study examined how right-side images (in contrast to plain text) in Google AdWords affect users' visual behavior.

[11] Prices and promotions, when mentioned in banner ads, do not have a major impact on their perceived usefulness.

[13] The relevance of the ad's content to the user's goal and to the website does not affect view time due to the expectation that an advert will be irrelevant.

[16] Advertisers and webmasters may attempt to prevent or subvert banner blindness by eliminating one or more possible causes: Users generally read webpage from top left to bottom right, so adverts in this path may be more noticeable.

Banner ads just below the navigation area may be viewed more, as users expect content at the top of the page.

This distraction may increase the attention of some users when they are involved in free browsing (not seeking to complete a specific goal).

Rapidly animated banner ads can cause lower recognition rates of the advert itself, and negative attitudes toward the advertiser.

[19] Personalized ads use and include information about viewers, like demographics, PII, and purchasing habits.

Visual exploration of banners typically proceeds from the picture to the logo and finally to the slogan.

Advertisers may use data analytics and campaign management tools to categorise viewers and serve ads that are more likely to be relevant to the user's interests.

They can have greater viewability than other forms of advertising because they are less easy to distinguish from expected, non-advert content.

[24] Through social media, advertisers can transfer feelings of trust in known individuals to adverts, thereby validating the ads.

Peer pressure can encourage users to change attitudes or behavior regarding advertising to adapt to group customs.